Well on Monday afternoon we all travelled down to Toronto to bid farewell to my aunt and uncle. It was quite a quiet journey down and we of course stopped off at Tim’s for a coffee. David was pleased when I looked up the terminal on the computer and found that it had not one but three Tim’s to choose from.
We parked the car at the airport and helped them with their bags to the checkin. Trouble was we were too early, so they decided they would wander round the airport for a while. We said a rather tearful goodbye and then they were gone.
The journey home was uneventful and we chatted about the last two weeks, reminiscing already! When we got home I cooked the two pork steaks David had left for us – to his cooking instructions and they were lovely.
On Tuesday morning I had a business meeting to attend and when I got home found they had not phoned to say they had landed which was a little worrying. But looking at the plane schedule on the web it got in ok, so we figured they had got the car and driven straight to their friends house in the UK where they are staying for another week and fell asleep. At about 2pm aunt Judy phoned to say they were okay, but that her friends mum was ill in hospital so they were going to visit that evening and would phone us again later in the week.
The weather has certainly taken a downturn since they selfishly took the Spanish weather back with them. We haven’t gone into double figures yet and have had rain and even some snow flurries yesterday – SNOW!!!!! The weekend sounds warmer but wet.
On Tuesday we spotted the groundhog for the first time this year, lovely to see him back. The deer seem to have moved on though as we haven’t seem them much at all. Now there is plenty of food in the woods they cannot be bothered with us!
When Judy & David left they were had decided that they really wanted to come and live over here. I cannot believe it as I never in a million years did I think they would be prepared to leave the warm climes of Spain to come to Canada, but they loved it. I can possibly sponsor them, so you never know. If they sell their Spanish house – buyers queue up here please, then I think they will seriously look at moving here rather that another area of Spain. We will have to wait and see what happens.
Judy & David drove down to Niagara Falls on Sunday and spent two nights there. They loved the falls and the spectacular views but hated the commercialization on the actual town. This was our view too when we have visited in the past. Fortunately they had great weather and so had a great couple of days. They came back to our house on Tuesday and we went out for a meal in the evening.
On Wednesday we stayed in for a rest, other than taking the hire car back to Avis. On Thursday we drove up to Ottawa. We set out nice and early and too highway 7 as it is far more scenic than going along the 401 etc. We stopped off in Perth for a Tim’s and got to Ottawa late morning. Although we couldn’t check into the hotel that early we left the car there and got the bus into the city. The hotel is outside the main city area so it cost us just $3 each to bus in.
Once in the city we walked to Parliament Hill which looked great. The sun was shining it was 25C and everything looked beautiful.
The views across the Ottawa River were great too.
Once we had done the sightseeing on Parliament Hill we went to the Byward Market area to look around the stores and the stalls. We also went into the main shopping centre.
After all this we were hungary so we took Judy & David to the Hard Rock Cafe as they had never been to one before. They really liked it and we had a great meal. After this we headed back to the hotel and checked in. We met up an hour later in the bar area for a couple of drinks and a chat then went to bed exhausted.
Next morning we decided we didn’t want to shop and decided to visit Gatineau Park on the Quebec side of Ottawa. We found it quite easily but also found than many areas were still covered in snow and some were inaccessible.
Some of the lakes were stunning however!
After a few hours at the park we drove back home.
Saturday we didn’t do much and Sunday we sat on the deck in the morning as the weather was so nice. In the afternoon I took my aunt to a couple of local open houses. We are still tentatively looking and she was really interested to see the different styles of house, so we have a good couple of hours house hunting.
In the evening we went to Montanans for dinner and then relaxed in the evening.
Today they return to the airport for the journey home and it is poring with rain and thundering, so could be an interesting drive!
BTW, both have decided they love Canada and want to live here – is this what happens to everyone when they visit this country?
